S Sreesanth likely to contest Kerala polls on BJP ticket

Former Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth has claimed to have been offered a BJP ticket to contest the assembly elections in Kerala on 16th May; exactly 3 years from the date of his arrest for spot-fixing allegations. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to get off the mark in the 140-member Kerala assembly. “I will announce my candidature tomorrow (Wednesday). I have been offered a ticket by the BJP to contest either from Ernakulam or Tripunithura constituency. I wish to contest from Tripunithura,” Sreesanth told the media in Bengaluru.

Sreesanth revealed that he hails from a family with leftist leanings while his wife’s family supports the BJP. The right arm pacer was banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after match-fixing allegations. On 16th May 2013, the Delhi police arrested Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan from Mumbai, on charges of spot-fixing during IPL 6. Police reported that Sreesanth was drunk at the time of his arrest and thought he was being arrested for being drunk. When the Delhi police team intercepted him, he was reportedly accompanied by a woman in an SUV outside a five-star hotel in Carter Road Promenade, Mumbai.

In July 2015, a Patiala House court in Delhi exonerated him and two other players in the case, against which Delhi Police have gone in appeal. While his parents are settled in Ernakulam in Kerala, he keeps moving between Bengaluru and Kochi. Sreesanth has played 27 Tests and taken 87 wickets while his 53 ODIs have accounted for 75 wickets. In his 10 T20Is, he took 7 wickets. Sreesanth was a part of two World Cup winning teams, in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup.

Sreesanth is noted for his exuberant and emotional behaviour, especially whilst appealing for and celebrating wickets. He has been warned several times for indiscipline both on and off the cricket field, and frequently fined for violating the player conduct guidelines of the ICC. He is making his debut as an actor in the upcoming movie Big Picture.